{"id":22271,"date":"2022-12-01T08:08:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T08:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported"},"modified":"2022-12-01T09:06:46","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T09:06:46","slug":"basotho-migrant-workers-deported","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported","title":{"rendered":"Basotho migrant workers deported"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Limpho Kanetsi was working at a factory in Newcastle, South Africa, when she heard that the police had started a special operation to arrest illegal migrant workers.<\/p>\n

She immediately went into hiding. She said she had to sleep in an open space for days after running away from the police, afraid that even the house she rented would be raided.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not have food or clean water,\u201d she said. The police eventually caught up with her and she left everything she had in her rented house in Newcastle.<\/p>\n

Kanetsi was among the more than 500 Basotho who were arrested by the South African police in a crackdown against illegal migrant workers last week. She says she cannot go back to fetch her belongings because she has now been banned from the country for five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not even have my phone with me. I only have a few clothes,\u201d she said. She said her employer did not pay them the money they had worked for.<\/p>\n

The South African authorities raided factories in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, purging illegal immigrants working there including hundreds of Basotho. Prime Minister Sam Matekane dispatched seven buses to go to Newcastle and fetch Basotho home.<\/p>\n

They arrived on Monday, with the government spokesperson Communications Minister Nthati Moorosi promising that the buses were going back to collect those who stayed behind. Of the 500 brought back home, 27 were rearrested at the border and taken to Ladybrand for crimes that were not yet clear.<\/p>\n

The deportees told thepost that, as it often happens when employers avoid paying workers without proper work permits, they were arrested at a time when they were supposed to get paid.<\/p>\n

Keketso Setipa said she left Lesotho on January 22 and went to work in Newcastle at a garments factory. Setipa said she had been working there until last week on Tuesday when some people tipped them that the police were coming for them.<\/p>\n

She said she tried to flee to the township where she stayed but found police cars already there looking for her and others. \u201cWe fled and tried to hide at a place owned by one Afrikaner but they chased us away and called the police on us,\u201d Setipa said.<\/p>\n

She says they then decided to hide in the nearest bush without food and water. \u201cWe were living under the rains and the sun for those days,\u201d she said. She complained that they slept in the open space for more than five days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts because I did not go to South Africa to steal. I went there in search of a job for my children,\u201d she said. She added that she has left her belongings behind. \u201cI only have this small bag.
\nShe worries that once she goes back to South Africa to collect her important things she would be arrested again.<\/p>\n

She worked in South Africa without a work permit. She said herdboys who found them wandering in the veldt offered them milk and \u201cwe survived on that milk\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to drink any water we found. When we found a pond of dirty water we knelt down and drank,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Another victim who declined to be named said her employer managed to hide them \u201cbut the employer forced us to work saying if we did not work we should walk out of the gates so that we could be arrested\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the sake of our safety we had to work even at night,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left Lesotho to work not to commit crimes, but the (political) leadership in that country does not welcome us. It makes one cry.
\nLisebo Mahamo, another deportee, said the employer only paid them M150 each saying they would get their full salaries the following day.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the following day, we did not get our money. Instead the police arrived.
\nSome of the illegal workers, she said, are still in Newcastle as they are afraid to go out of their hiding places.<\/p>\n

The Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office, Limpho Tau, said the government is in talks with South Africa so that those who were arrested are brought back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere there were challenges, please forgive us, our plan was always to ensure that you arrive here at home safely,\u201d Tau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working on bringing back all those who are still in hiding in Newcastle,\u201d he said. He added that \u201cthere is no other neighbour except South Africa\u201d. \u201cThe free movements documents were signed, but they were never implemented.
\nHe said Matekane will meet Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the matter and \u201cthe terms and conditions must be made flexible for both countries\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the government is working hard to ensure that enough jobs are created in Lesotho so that Basotho are not forced to seek jobs in other countries.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Limpho Kanetsi was working at a factory in Newcastle, South Africa, when she heard that the police had started a special operation to arrest illegal migrant workers. She immediately went into hiding. She said she had to sleep in an open space for days after running away from the police, afraid that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":22270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,7],"tags":[233,246,245,747],"class_list":["post-22271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-head-lines","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho","tag-police"],"yoast_head":"\nBasotho migrant workers deported - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Limpho Kanetsi was working at a factory in Newcastle, South Africa, when she heard that the police had started a special ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Basotho migrant workers deported\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Limpho Kanetsi was working at a factory in Newcastle, South Africa, when she heard that the police had started a special ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T08:08:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T09:06:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1669869642.17.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Basotho migrant workers deported\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T08:08:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-01T09:06:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported\"},\"wordCount\":815,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/12\/postQueueImg_1669869642.17.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\",\"police\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"head lines\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/basotho-migrant-workers-deported\",\"name\":\"Basotho migrant workers deported - 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